Dreams

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   mod2vintposted 13 years ago

   I can't remember my dreams, if I even have them, Why would that be? I could really use some happy dreams these days!

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   Sue Adamsposted 13 years ago

   Maybe it's because you don't sleep enough. The only time I remember my dreams is when I wake up without an alarm, when my sleep is allowed to end by itself. So usually when I remember a dream it happened just before I woke up. Unless they are disturbing dreams that wake me up in the night.

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      mod2vintposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I feel like all I do is work and sleep, but I do wake to an alarm everyday. Maybe I'm just to tired to dream.

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         TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         You probably dream some each night. But it can be difficult to remember dreams A. because they are often strange and sort of disjointed, and B. We are very busy.
         
         Are you the kind of person who gets up and "going" fairly quickly? (You mentioned that you only "work and sleep.") Sometimes getting up and "started" immediately can make it even easier to "forget" or "lose" dreams. Do you ever have the experience of seeing or hearing something and all of a sudden remembering a piece of a dream as though you were reminded of it?
         
         It is very important to have a fairly consistent sleep schedule; if you need 8 hours of sleep try to get it every night--if you need 10 try to get that (it can be different for each person). Regardless of how you ultimately end up sleeping, start out lying on your back, breathing deeply and evenly, and relaxing all the muscles in your body a few minutes (10-15) before you go to bed. Jerami is right, you should keep a dream journal nearby for when you wake. When you wake in the mornings (and especially if you awaken from a dream in the middle of the night), try to spend about ten or fifteen minutes "holding onto" your dreams and writing them down before they can slip away. This isn't instantaneous, either...It takes continued persistence to hold onto your dreams consistently.
         
         There are other methods and tricks you can use, but these are good to start out; making sure your sleep habits are good is good for your health anyway.
         
         Good luck.

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            mod2vintposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Yep, alarm goes off and I'm up and running 12 to 14 hours a day. Speaking of sleep I'm headed there now I can barely keep my eyes open and 4AM comes extremely early. Thanks for the advice, on my back it is!

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               Jeramiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  When I was trying to remember my dreams I would set the alarm 15 or 20 minutes before I had to get up. Then hit the snooze button.  I always remembered dreams when doing this.

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               TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Have a good night. Let us know how your dreaming goes.

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   Jeramiposted 13 years ago

   Many years ago I read that setting an alarm clock (Quiet mode)loud enough to wake me, and immediately writing down the dreams like a diary, over a long period of time will show a similarity between the dreams and real life.
      This worked for me.  Now I don't write them down any more but still see a common theme in them and with life..

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      Ann Nonymousposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      For years I've had that dream where you're falling and falling into nothingness. Often I'm at the top of a staircase and jump and never reach the bottom and just continue to drop. When I awake my heart is pounding and it takes me awhile to orient myself back into the living.
      I wonder why I have dreamed this for soooo long. Ah, so now I live in a three story house with two steep, carpeted staircases that I am constantly falling on...slipping down, down.....and I almost...ALMOST relive that feeling of my dream.
      Interesting theory you have here, Jerami !!!!!

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         TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         This is a very common dream. What tends to be happening in your life when you have this dream? Can you identify anything that seems to trigger it?

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            Ann Nonymousposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I've had it as long as I can remember and I realize a lot of people have it which is why I probably  referred to is as "that dream" That haunting dream....It's almost as bad as when you're just about to fall asleep and you have this sudden twitch or spasm in your body...Aack...It's nasty! But I guess I am getting off subject : )

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               TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               It is nasty, quite disturbing. I used to have it fairly often, but haven't in a while.
               
               If it really bothers you, try taking note of when you have the dream (this is especially helpful if you keep a journal of your daily life regularly). Take a look at what sorts of things are going on in your day-to-day life (and esp. in your relationships) when you're having it. The dream may be common, but it's particular meaning for you may be different. Keeping a journal with your dreams in it may help you to understand what's going on in your life that triggers the dream.

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         Jeramiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            It seems that most of my dreams are one way that my subconscious mind is communicating to my conscience mind.
            Some seem to be prophetic in nature.
            And some are more of a dejavoo type. 
           I have read books that explain these dejavoo type dream this way.
            I'm not an expert on these things , just remembering a few things that I read many years ago. They seemed true at the time.
            We have a multitude of potential futures.We,in our dream state play out many of these possibilities. We subconsciously choose one of these potential futures and in real life we then work toward the one that we have chosen.
            One of the books explanations for dreaming that we are falling is of the subconscious mind feeling that it is falling spiritually and attempting to communicate that to the conscience mind.

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            Ann Nonymousposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            It's bad enough having deja-vu when you are conscious but not being able to escape that while your body needs sleep! Yikes!

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   SandyMcCollumposted 13 years ago

   When I used to smoke a lot of pot I didn't remember dreams but rarely. When I noticed this I asked others that smoked pot and they gave similar answers. Just sayin', there could be some chemical (prescriptions?) reasons and how tired you are when you work and sleep, work and sleep. Some meds even say they're known to cause outrageous dreams, so I suppose the opposite could be true.

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      TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You are correct. Marijuana in particular can suppress your dream state. I'm sure other drugs can as well. Over time the pot (if I remember correctly) can actually disturb your sleep to the point that you DON'T DREAM (worse than not remembering); this is unhealthy. There are prescriptions made specifically to stop one from dreaming (these are for people who have night terrors and serious dreaming/sleep problems).

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         Ann Nonymousposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I was on some prescription medication prescribed by a doctor and wonder of wonders one of the adverse side effects was nightmares!!! What a nightmare!

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            TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Yech. Some dreams are bad enough on their own...Medication induced dreams, I've found, can be particularly disturbing.
            
            I was going to suggest that one of the meanings of that dream might be a feeling of lack of control (that's usually what's going on with me when I have it). I can't think of anything better that might trigger that feeling than having to take a medication...plus the med itself might contribute to nightmares...Possible double whammy.
            
            Best of luck with your dreams, and your meds.

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               Ann Nonymousposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks...Everything is okay!

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   Sara Tonynposted 13 years ago

   For what it's worth, I've read several times that the "falling" dream is an anxiety dream. That makes sense to me because the dream is so common and of course we all suffer from anxiety at one time or another.

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      Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hmm-- I don't fall, but I fly occasionally. Try flapping your arms.

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         Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         A friend of mine told me flying dreams are usually based on something sexual. Just thought I should tell you before you gave out details that might reveal more than you want revealed! 

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            TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Hell...according to some people EVERYTHING is based on something sexual.
            
            I'm with, surprisingly, Freud who says that people's dream symbolism has both a universal meaning as well as a personal meaning...So something might symbolize sex to the general public (so it would have that connotation), but also carry a personal meaning (b/c of your experiences) that might have nothing at all to do with sex. Symbols are so compact they can stand for many ideas...That's part of why dreams can be so weird.

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               Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I agree.
               
               I dreamed about the date 12/16/2024 over and over and over again one night. That was the entire dream...just that date...along with the message it was the day I would die.
               
               Try falling back asleep after that one.

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                  TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Eww, that sounds no fun.
                  
                  One of the worst ones I've ever had (and I've had some doozies) I dreamt about being in my bed, in my house...just exactly as I had when I went to sleep...in fact it was SO real, I thought I was awake, and the entire time there was a man standing next to my bed (my back was to him, but somehow I knew he had red hair) whispering, "Just tell me how you want me to kill you. I know you're awake, all you have to do is tell me how you want to die."
                  
                  It was totally creepy and seemed very real. When I actually DID wake up, I went through the house double checking all the doors and windows. That was a BAD night.

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                     Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Oh, that's a real goodie alright!

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                        TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        Yeah, I STILL get creeped out just thinking about that one. And I have no idea about an interpretation for it. I don't think I had a deathwish at the time...but it's hard to say, I was a teen, and times were very rough for me then. I know it scared the crap out of me. It sounds like a simple dream, but the pervasive fear I felt was just...overwhelming.

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   Rochelle Frankposted 13 years ago

   So what are sex dreams based on?

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      Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Watching too much porn at bedtime?
      
      No idea, but it's a great question. If anyone would know -- or think they did -- it would be Freud but he's been incommunicado for quite some times now...

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         lyricsingrayposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         

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         TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         You'd have to interpret the individual dream, but he might have chalked it up to a straightforward dream about wish fulfillment...basically, you want to have sex, so you dream about having it.

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            Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            So if I wanted to fly would I dream about flying. . . or sex?

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               Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Go for the obvious and dream about joining the mile high club.

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               TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Well, I've never heard that the flying dreams represented sex...that might have been part of the personal symbolism of the person who mentioned it. *shrug* It would depend on the kind of dream.
               
               Some dreams are very straightforward and really don't need much interpretation. Like sex dreams; you're horny, you have a sex dream.
               
               Then some dreams get really whacked out and symbolic. If your wish was to fly, you might dream in a straightforward way about it. OR you might have dreams in which you were doing something else that represents (to your subconscious mind, anyway) flying. Usually, though (at least according to Mr. Freud) the stuff we hide in dream symbols is stuff we find distasteful or stuff that the general public would frown upon us wanting.
               
               Does that make sense?

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                  Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I think it's the Freudian interpretation -- though what didn't Freud think was about sex?

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                     TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     LOL...Exactly. I think he might have been a leetle TOO preoccupied with it.
                     
                     Then again, I think he MAY (stress on the may) have been in the closet. Talk about conflict.

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                        Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        It gets even more complicated. He had a thing for his own mother from what I've read.

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                           TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           Wow, I had not read that...Where'd you find it? That would make SO much sense given his ideas about the Oedipal/Electra Complex.

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                              Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                              Exactly. No idea where I read it but I know I've read it more than once.

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      habeeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Flying!

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   habeeposted 13 years ago

   I have some terrible, very detailed dreams, due to a medication. I wish I didn't remember them!

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      TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yuck, I'm sorry to hear that. I don't suppose there are options for a different med that would do the same thing for you, but without the yucky side effect?

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         habeeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks. The med can't be changed. The dreams are getting less frequent, thank goodness!

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      Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Are they also incredibly colorful? Like psychedelic colors? Any chance the med is Effexor?

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   lyricsingrayposted 13 years ago

   I love to dream,in color-keep a dream journal-very bazaar to look back on some dreams 

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      Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Keeping a journal of dreams is a great idea! Have you ever noticed kind of patterns emerging?

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   Rochelle Frankposted 13 years ago

   When I was a very little girl, I never complained when it was bedtime-- because I wanted to see "the movies".
   My mom figured out that I was talking about my dreams. She asked me if my dreams were in blank and white or color.
   I told her "Technicolor!" -- this was years before TV, but we did go to the movies occasionally-- black and white and color.
   (No meds.)

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      Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      Funny you should mention that. My dreams are, or at least seem, extremely lengthy. I describe them as movies for that very reason and fully expect to see credits rolling at the end some day...

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         TheGlassSpiderposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Haha! I'm glad I'm not the only one.
         
         I heard growing up that most people dream in black and white, but I do not remember EVER having had a black and white dream...all my dreams have been in vivid, realistic color. So Rochelle and I dream in color...Anybody else?
         
         Has anyone experienced the black and white dreams?

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            Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I'm wondering about color-blind people....

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            Sara Tonynposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I think everybody dreams in color. I know I do.

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    habeeposted 13 years ago

    I think someday we'll be able to "film" our dreams!

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